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Banga soup with fresh catfish
Ọbẹ̀ Banga: the Delta's palm-nut cream soup, perfumed with banga spice and beletete leaves
Across Warri, Sapele and the Urhobo and Itsekiri towns of Delta State, a pot of banga is what Sunday lunch smells like: fresh palm fruit boiled and pounded into a rich orange cream, then simmered with the region's own banga spice and the dried, slightly minty beletete leaf. Fresh catfish is the favourite fish, cooked gently so the steaks stay whole in a soup that is thick enough to coat a spoon but never pasty. It is eaten with Delta starch, eba or plain boiled rice, and leftovers often become 'banga rice' the next day. Tinned palm-fruit concentrate saves hours and gives a very good result. Chef's tip: once the fish goes in, shake the pot by its handles instead of stirring, so the soft catfish does not break into shreds.
- Total time
- 85 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1 ¾ lb palm fruit concentrate1 large tin; or 2 kg fresh palm fruit, boiled, pounded and pressed
- 3 ¼ cups water
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 scotch bonnet chilliespounded or finely chopped
- 3 tbsp ground crayfish
- 2 tbsp banga spice mixsold ready-ground in African shops; or 1 tsp ground grains of selim + 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp dried beletete leavescrushed; or 1 tbsp dried scent leaf or basil
- 1 stock cubevegetable or fish, crumbled
- 1 tsp saltto taste
For the fish
- 2 ¼ lb fresh catfishcleaned and cut into 4 cm steaks
- 3 ½ oz smoked dried fishdeboned and broken into pieces
- 1 limehalved, for cleaning the catfish
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put 2 ¼ lb fresh catfish in a bowl, squeeze over 1 lime and pour over a kettleful of just-boiled water. Rub off the grey slime with your fingers or a cloth, then rinse in cold water. Keep the fish in the fridge while you start the soup.
5 minStep 2: Rinse 3 ½ oz smoked dried fish in warm water to remove grit and soften it.
2 minStep 3: Scrape 1 ¾ lb palm fruit concentrate into a wide pot and stir in 3 ¼ cups water until smooth. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, stirring now and then so it does not catch.
8 minStep 4: Add 1 onion, 2 scotch bonnet chillies, 3 tbsp ground crayfish, 2 tbsp banga spice mix and 1 stock cube. Lower to a steady simmer and cook uncovered, stirring every few minutes, until the soup has reduced by about a third and a thin layer of red oil starts to float on top.
30 minStep 5: Add 3 ½ oz smoked dried fish and simmer for 5 minutes so it softens and flavours the soup.
5 minStep 6: Lay the catfish steaks in the soup in one layer and spoon some soup over them. Do not stir: shake the pot gently by the handles instead. A common mistake is stirring hard at this stage, which turns the fish into flakes.
1 minStep 7: Cover and simmer gently until the catfish is opaque all the way through and flakes when pressed at the bone.
10 minStep 8: Sprinkle in 2 tbsp dried beletete leaves, taste and add 1 tsp salt as needed, and simmer for 2 more minutes. The soup should coat the back of a spoon; if it is too thick, loosen with a splash of hot water.
2 minStep 9: Rest the pot off the heat for 5 minutes, then serve with starch, eba or rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 34 g
- Carbs
- 9 g
- Fat
- 39 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does banga soup with fresh catfish take?
- About 85 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of lime?
- Lemon, same amount.
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